Dancing
by Kari Kurofai
Summary: For humans, it's called Courtship. For birds, it's the Mating Dance. So what are you supposed to do when you're neither, and yet both? Iggy/Gazzy implied Fang/Max


**Dancing**

The Gasman shifted on his toes, hand on the soft oak wood of the door, but he was hesitant in opening it. Sighing, he leaned against the doorframe, hand shifting down to the handle as he chewed on his lip in uncertainty. It's not like he'd never gone into the room before, he used to share it with the person inside when they were younger. But he'd been, what, eight, nine or so then. And he'd stopped sneaking in there when he was scared at eleven. He stuck out his lower lip, pouting to himself as he twirled his fingers around the gold doorknob. It wasn't like he didn't hang out in there every night before bed anyways, but that didn't mean that he didn't stand here each night debating with himself whether or not it was a good idea to continue to do so. He sighed audibly, running a hand through his cowlick blond hair in frustration.

"You do know you seem like a creepy stalker if you just stand outside my room like that, Gaz," A voice spoke up from inside the room, making the second youngest flock member jump.

Laughing weakly, Gazzy slid the door open, blue eyes scanning the room even though he knew the layout by heart. He could navigate it with his eyes closed even, just like it's occupant could. Iggy was reclined in an overstuffed beanbag chair a few feet from the door, a book propped open in his hand and his fingers trailing across the seemingly empty pages as he read. "What's up Gas-Master?" He asked lightly, not looking up from the book, he had no need to after all.

Gazzy shuffled up to sit on the floor behind him, reaching over to skim his own fingers across the open page of the book with interest. "What is this, Pride an Prejudice? You're such a girl," He teased, feeling a few more lines of the bumpy text before he leaned against the twenty-two-year-old's back. "And quit calling me that. I really need to make Max change my name."

"Just because you grew out of your fatal flaw doesn't mean we don't remember it," Iggy replied with a small smirk. "You were born The Gasman, and the Gasman you'll stay."

The blond rolled his eyes, leaning back on his heals and letting his fingers fall to the back of the blind man's neck. He brushed aside the edges of his auburn hair, tracing the base of his neck warily. He felt Iggy tense beneath his touch, "Nothing," he whispered reassuringly, putting his weight against the other's back again. Just because they'd lived peacefully for the past few years didn't mean that they didn't have things to worry about. There was still the threat of a sudden expiration date appearing on any one of them. They all checked themselves almost daily, remembering the way Ari had simply dropped like a rock when his predetermined time had rolled around. Gazzy hadn't been there, but he'd seen the mark, seen the date, engraved like a tattoo on the Eraser's neck. It was just one more horrible reality that reminded them that they weren't normal. That, and the obvious wings and all.

Speaking of which, he tugged gently on Iggy's coat sleeve, the older man complying and raising an arm so that the sixteen-year-old could slip the thing off, throwing it casually to the floor as he unfurled the fifteen foot wide auburn-red wings. Of all the flock members, Iggy's wings were his favorite. Everyone said his and Angel's were the most beautiful, that perfect pure white, but he like Iggy's. The primaries were a dark auburn ember color, the secondaries shifting into a near brown before the pure bark tinted hue of the soft downy under-feathers. As if it was the most normal thing in the world, Gazzy began picking through the wings, preening and straightening the feathers as he hummed softly to himself. "You're such a perfectionist, and yet you never think to look after your own wings," he chided the older man, running his hands down the feathers on both wings towards his back.

"You always end up doing it for me, so what's the point?" The third eldest flock member smirked.

"If Max knew I did this every night, she'd yell at you for being lazy," Gazzy said haughtily. "Iggy! How could you use a poor little sophomore like that! He has homework to do!" The blond said mockingly, throwing his voice to sound just like their fearless leader. "And so do you!" He laughed, leaning against the older man's back again, arms draped over his broad shoulders. "Is that what the girly book is for? School? I thought you were majoring in science." He wiggled his eyebrows, though he knew that the other wouldn't be able to see that, "Like, you know, bombs and stuff."

Iggy smiled, "Yeah, I am. But since, let me think, I didn't go to school for a good portion of my life, I sorta have to make up for it, or they take away my most needed funding."

Gazzy made a face, " So? Max and Fang didn't go to collage, and our house and all our godly needs here are paid for by the government." He grinned, "Can't you just stay home? We could make all the bombs you want out back. Oh, and drop them in the lake! Kasploosh!"

The auburn haired man reached up a hand, ruffling The Gasman's hair, "Sorry buddy, I like school. And you know what, you better go to collage too, get a good education and all that blah-blah."

"Can I go to fashion design collage like Nudge is going to?"

"No," Iggy said immediately, "You can go to local schools like me. Nudge is ten times more responsible than you, airhead king. You need looking after."

The blond made a face again, "I'm sticking out my tongue, Iggy," he said darkly.

The only reply he received was a distracted, "Mhhhmm . . ." From the older man, his fingers skimming across the pages again.

The Gasman sighed and leaned against Iggy's back once more, his forehead against the collage student's neck. Biting his lip again, he shifted his hands down from the feathered wings to the sensitive spot between Iggy's shoulder blades. It was a weak point for all of them, and they'd seen Fang tease Max with it hundreds of times over the years.

Iggy tensed and drew in a shaky breath, "Gaz, don't," He hissed, his fingers faltering over the brail nubs on the book as his concentration slipped.

Gazzy ignored him, kneading soft circles between his flock member's wings with one hand as he shifted the other down his back, twisting around his waist. He pushed up the edge of the auburn haired man's shirt, splaying his fingers across his suddenly exposed stomach.

Iggy jerked away, stumbling off of the beanbag chair and onto the floor, the book falling open beside him. "I . . ." He started, breath coming in shaky gasps, "I thought we agreed, Gazzy, that you wouldn't do that."

The blond stared down at the ground, frustration reflecting in his sky-blue eyes. "You still treat me like a kid!" he hissed.

"You are a kid!" Iggy retorted angrily, "Gaz, you don't -"

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Gazzy muttered, voice barely above a whisper so as not to alert the rest of the flock to their argument, though he had no doubt that Angel had already sensed it. "I'm fucking sixteen, Ig. You know most kids my age have done stuff like this before, it's nothing new. Hell, I think everything we've all been through is worse."

Iggy tilted his head to the side, his dark, unseeing eyes narrowed, "Gaz, that's what _normal_ kids do. And you know very well that we're not normal."

"Max and Fang do it," Gazzy retorted.

The older man's face grew flushed, "Who cares about those two love-birds? They can do whatever the hell they want. Go find yourself a normal girl, Gaz. You-"

"You don't get it, do you!?" Gazzy burst out, fury and hurt in his breaking voice, "We fucking _can't_, Ig. We can't have normal people because we're not _normal_. You just said so yourself, don't you understand? We're like birds, Iggy. Swans or something, one of those ones that mate for life. We can't do that sort of thing like _normal _people and just move on to the next person if we happen to break up! We're designed like swans, we mate for life. There's only one for each of us, someone who we're born to meet."

"You're starting to sound like that book I was reading," Iggy tried to joke.

"Oh shut up," Gazzy muttered, lunging forward to grab the other's hand. "Look, I'll show you something, I'll prove it to you." He dragged the sputtering, protesting collage student towards the window, and threw it open. Hopping up onto the sill and darting out, wings outstretched, he gave his flock member no choice but to follow him.

He darted through the air, beginning to weave complicated circles and patterns, making the familiar small clicks and hums in the back of his throat so that Iggy could follow him. He dived down as he caught sight of the taller man trailing along below him, ducking underneath him until he flapped upside-down, nose to nose with the older man. "Please, let me show you. Prove it to you," He whispered, lips brushing against Iggy's ear. "Let me show you that it can only be you and me, and nothing else." He ran his hand down the other's broad chest, stopping just above his heart, "Don't think, just feel. It's an instinct, in here. Like the swans." He shifted out from beneath him, humming in his throat for Iggy to follow, "Dance with me."

Iggy zipped after him hesitantly, listening to the familiar wing-beats and hum. But the pattern of both was starting to change, and he shifted his own flight pattern to match. He wanted to match, needed to match, his body told him that it was the right thing to do. Gazzy was suddenly beside him again, their wingtips barely brushing as they dipped and dived in perfect harmony. One minute, he'd be circling over and under the teenager, and the next the positions would be switched. Ducking and diving, dipping so low to the ground that the tall grass tickled their chests, only a few feet away from each other, their movements perfectly mirrored.

"Normal people can't do things like this," Gazzy murmured in his ear, settling beneath him again as they took as sharp incline up into the air once more.

"You mean fly?" Iggy asked, laughing slightly as the wind rushed past them.

"No," Gazzy said sarcastically, "do this, dance like this." Iggy tilted his head to the side, confused as he dipped below The Gasman again, letting the ends of his wings tickle the teen's stomach. Gazzy smiled, "I read about it somewhere, that birds who mate for life have a special dance they use to find their perfect mate. And only one other bird can match their dance completely in sync like this. We have that in our DNA, Ig. And we match."

Iggy darted up above him again, reaching down to press his fingers against the soft spot between the blonde's shoulder blades, "Gaz, I'm just following you, it's not like that."

"I stopped humming and giving you signals awhile ago, Ig," Gazzy said slyly, "You're doing this all on your own."

They dived back down towards the ground again, wings brushing as Gazzy slid in beneath the older flock member again. "Please, Iggy. What am I supposed to do to make you understand?"

Angling out of their dive just above the surface of the lake, Iggy reached out, curling his fingers into the back of Gazzy's short blond hair, "Tell me what the term for this is called, you little trickster."

"Mating dance," Gazzy murmured into his ear, leaning up to kiss him softly. "You matched my dance, that means that _we_ match. It can only be me, no one else. It's an instinct, we're _made_ for this." He pulled away slightly, hands tangling together behind Iggy's back, just below his wings. "Swans mate for life . . ."

Iggy copied the movement as they twirled through the air together, his hand brushing against the base of Gazzy's white wings, "You're the one with the swan wings, Gaz," He chided softly, lips moving against the younger boy's ear, smirking as he felt him shiver. "They're pure white," He whispered, fingers grazing along the teen's primaries, feeling their color. He moved his hand up to the other's face, his other arm curving around his back, pulling him close as they floated above the lake again. Tracing up his chin, he ran his fingers over the other's eyelids, "This is the one thing about you I can't feel, the color of your eyes," he murmured.

"They're blue," Gazzy breathed, tilting his head up to catch Iggy's lips against his own again. He could sense the house in front of them now, though he'd closed his eyes awhile ago. Iggy was leading their dance back towards the window, and he didn't want to go in. Didn't want it to end. Teasingly, his hand finding the windowsill as the older man nudged him back towards it, he ran his tongue across Iggy's lips as he kissed him again. He was promptly toppled backwards into the room as the auburn haired man pushed at him, returning the kiss with more ferocity.

Iggy had been holding back. For years and years, he'd been holding back, watching Gazzy grow up and telling himself that being a solo bird kid was a better choice than giving in to his sinful desires. But now, the words _mate for life_ rang in his head as he ran his fingers through Gazzy's golden-blond hair, watching the striking color flash in his sightless eyes. He parted the younger flock member's mouth against his own, letting his tongue dart inside, instigating a duel for dominance, one he had no doubt he'd win.

Gazzy gasped for air after a moment, sucking in a breath before he leaned up to begin the war of tongues again. His hands slid beneath Iggy's shirt, and he was pleased to find that the invasion was not resisted as he tugged the garment off, tossing it to where he'd previously thrown the coat. Iggy made sure that the blonde's shirt promptly followed to join it. Their wings rustled together, and the older flock member lifted them off the ground, flapping once to reach the neatly made bed. He broke their kiss, ducking his head down to lick at one of the blonde's nipples, smirking at the surprised hiss that resulted. Gazzy's hands tangled in his auburn hair as the other bit down, liking and biting softly, fiercely.

The blonde's hands lowered to the other's belt buckle, his fingers fumbling with it as he arched up against Iggy's instant attack on his chest. His breathing turned ragged and desperate as he felt the older bird-kid slide his hands down to his own waistline, tugging off his jeans without hesitation, then reaching up to unhook the belt Gazzy was struggling with, throwing both pairs of pants to the floor.

The blind man narrowed dark eyes, running his hands down the younger's exposed body, feeling and memorizing every inch as he listened to Gazzy's jerky breathing. "You okay?" he whispered, sitting up to kiss him again reassuringly. "We can stop if you want to."

"No," Gazzy said, his hands reaching up to touch the soft spot between the other's wings, "Keep going. I want you to keep going."

Iggy nodded, running his hand along the inside of the blonde's leg, "Gaz, there's lots of different ways to do this, we can do the really difficult stuff later-"

Gazzy made an indignant huffing noise, "You think I don't know that, Ig? Just fucking do it, okay? I want this, I was the one who instigated the dance."

The auburn haired man let his fingers go up further, brushing briefly against the other's arousal before he brought them to his mouth, sucking on the first two for a few moments. Gazzy hissed as those same two fingers slid inside him, and he bit his lip. Iggy leaned up, kissing him gently, distractingly as he began to stretch him. "It's tight," he whispered, his voice betraying his excited anticipation, " Are you sure you'll be okay?"

The second youngest flock member murmured a few curses under his breath, his hands curling into the base of Iggy's wings, "It's fine, it's fine," he murmured, resting his head against the older man's shoulder as he felt the fingers withdraw. He shuddered, his breath coming in short, shallow gasps, "Please, Ig . . ." He gasped, "I need you, you can't stop now."

Iggy tucked his hands underneath the other's lower back, drawing him up and pressing gently against his entrance. He shivered with the restraint the was exerting, kissing the nape of Gazzy's neck reassuringly as he entered. Listeing to the blonde's breath hitch, he pressed in deeper, his own breathing uneaven as he forced himself to put a reign on the instincts that threatened to take over. His mind told him to wait as Gazzy's breathing evened out, waiting for him to adjust.

Gazzy nuzzled the bare skin along the older man's neck, his chest still heaving, "Move," he murmured, touching the sensitive place between his shoulder blades.

The auburn haired flock member curled his enormous wings around the blond, drawing him closer as he slid out. Gazzy wimpered against his neck at the loss, before gasping audibly as Iggy thrust back in. Their voices and breathing were quiet from years of stealth training, and Gazzy was been through worse pain in his life. But that didn't meant that it was what he'd consider comfortable. He shifted slightly as Iggy drew out again, arching up against him as he pressed back inside. "Iggy," he pleaded, "More, faster, harder, anything. It's not enough . . ."

Iggy complied, drawing out and thrusting back in more forcefully, making Gazzy moan as he managed to hit his that special bundle of nerves deep inside him. He pulled out again, keeping that same angle as he repeated the movement.

Gazzy cried out this time, pleasure and pain sparking through him as he clung to Iggy's shoulders. "Mhhmmm . . . Ah! Iggy, more!" He bit his lip, his nails digging into the others back as they rocked. For a brief moment, their wings fluttered together, and they lifted off the bed, Gazzy whispering the older man's name over and over.

The blond shuddered and tangled his fingers into Iggy's hair, kissing him fiercely as he came against the other's stomach, holding him there as he clenched around him, forcing the auburn haired man to release. He moaned at the feeling as Iggy hugged him close, pouring hot seed into him. This was what he had wanted, oh god, it was too perfect. "I love you," he murmured against the Iggy's ear, repeating the words in a hoarse whisper as the other pulled out.

"Love you too Gaz," Iggy replied softly.

^-^ ^-^ ^-^

Fang eyed the breakfast set down before him with a wary gaze. He wasn't even sure what it had been made of, looking at it now. It was simply an indistinguishable blob of _burnt_. He raised an eyebrow up at Max, who was leaning over him expectantly, looking a bit too pleased about her monstrous concoction. "Umm . . . Where's Iggy?" he asked hesitantly.

The blond woman shrugged, brushing some of her bangs out of her eyes, "Sleeping I suppose. When I went to wake him up, the door was locked."

The dark haired man looked at her in disbelief, "Seriously? That guy usually has no qualms about privacy or anything. Did you knock?" He was desperate for anything to eat except this . . . Whatever it was, and was trying his best to simply go with the plan of 'distraction' for now.

"Yes," Max replied haughtily, "He said 'Go away.' Maybe he's sick or something, should we bust the door down?"

"He'll be pissed if we do," Fang said after a moments thought. "Too bad though, I could use the exercise. Is Gazzy up? He could . . . Err . . . Help you with breakfast, or something."

Max raised an eyebrow, catching on to the meaning behind the suggestion, "Eat it," she demanded, pointing at the unintelligible blob on the plate in front of Fang. "Or suffer the consequences."

"Um, Max? I don't think even Fang of the iron stomach could digest that," Nudge said sleepily as she wandered into the kitchen. "Oh, and by the way, Gazzy isn't in his room, so good luck getting his help on breakfast."

Team leader Max looked up at her in surprise, old instincts flaring up, "What? He's gone? Did you check the house, the backyard?"

"Don't flip," a voice muttered from the hall, "I'm right here, good lord." Gazzy shuffled out into the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He stumbled slightly, and was promptly caught by Iggy, who entered right behind him.

Max starred as the older man leaned down and whispered something in The Gasman's ear, the other replying with a sharp whispered retort. "Okay, what's going on," she said darkly, her "demanding answers" gaze showing that she meant business.

Gazzy flinched slightly, "Ahahahahaha . . . Nothing, nothing at all. My back's just a little sore this morning, that's all."

Fang choked on the orange juice he was sipping, sputtering and coughing into his hand as he turned to look at them. His eyes shifted between the two, before raising up to meet Max's. He turned back to his plate, beginning to wolf down the "food" as she glared at him in a way that showed that she knew that he knew something. She promptly proceeded to karate-chop him across the back, making him spit out the mouthful of "food." "Talk," she said, keeping one eye on the pair on the other side of the table, making them freeze in mid run as they started to make a break for it.

"Not my business," Fang replied steadily, arms raised in a defensive position as she glared daggers at him.

Max had just turned to begin pestering the answers out of Iggy and Gazzy when Angel skipped into the room. She smiled brightly at them all, including Nudge, who had conked out on the table a few minutes ago, "So, Gazzy, how did it go?" She prompted sweetly, pure innocence on her face.

Gazzy opened his mouth in horror as Max turned gleaming eyes towards the mind reader. "Angel, dear, do you know what they're hiding from mommy-Max? Tell me," Max cooed.

Iggy put a hand on Gazzy's shoulder as he heard Angel stand on tiptoes to whisper something into the flock leader's ear. "On the count of three," he muttered under his breath.

Max whipped around with a shocked expression, here eyes instantly turning the blame on the older of the pair, "You little pervert! I'd rather you be a sexist-pig than something like that!"

"Three," Iggy said quickly, skipping the first two numbers.

Gazzy dug in his pocket, tossing something across the room, "Bomb!" He yelled, grabbing Iggy's hand and making a mad dash for the door as the others ducked behind various furniture.

Fang had grabbed Max and covered her head with his hands, pushing her beneath the table before he noticed that the object that rolled across the kitchen floor was not a bomb, but rather, a wadded up piece of paper. He started to laugh, even as Max hit him for doing so. "Oh, geeze, Max, calm down," he chuckled as she punched him. "Let them be. We should be glad to see them happy."

But Max merely scowled at him, pulling Nudge and Angel under the table for a heated discussion about how they would torture the other two flock members with this new information. Nudge was just in the middle of a long, lengthy explanation on how they could set up an alarm system in their rooms when Total walked into the room, taking one look at the four of them huddled beneath the table before wandering back out. Things seemed to get weirder and weirder everyday in this place.

RANDOM AUTHOR RAMBLE

Lalalala . . . I've never written a Maximum Ride fic before. It was really fun. Though I had to reread a bit, it's been years since I read the books, except for the manga. Lols. And this is one of my favorite pairings (I'm not sure if it's a real fannon pair though, I just thought it would be cute.) This takes place about seven or so years after the books, and the flock is happily living in a beautiful house by a lake somewhere very hidden. And yes, older readers, I did put their house there because of the original Max novels, this is based on the same Lake House. Their dance was largely inspired by it too.

Anywho . . . I've always thought these two would make a good pair, they're really close. And the sex was fun to write, cause they got wings. :] Please review! Thankies! *goes to see if there's other fics for this pairing*


End file.
